Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund disclosed it’s sold down its stake in Nintendo, days after a senior executive said it was weighing deploying more capital into the Kyoto-based game company.
The Arab Gulf country’s Public Investment Fund sold about 17.3 million shares of the creator of Super Mario Bros. franchise between Aug 21 and Oct 1, lowering its stake in the company to 7.54% from 8.58%, according to a filing to Japan’s Finance Ministry on Tuesday.
Nintendo’s shares had jumped the previous day after Kyodo News reported that PIF was considering increasing its holding, quoting Prince Faisal bin Bandar, vice chairman of PIF subsidiary Savvy Games Group.
Shares of Nintendo closed down 0.6%, broadly in line with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average.
The Saudi government has been buying up stakes in Japanese and South Korean gaming companies, part of a US$38 billion ($49.48 billion) push to lower the kingdom’s reliance on oil and create an entertainment and video-games hub in the Middle East.
PIF, which had around US$760 billion in assets under management at the end of last year, remains one of Nintendo’s biggest shareholders, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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It also has stakes in Tokyo-listed Nexon, as well as Capcom and Koei Tecmo Holdings.
